The invention provides a uniquely shaped fender that may be detachably secured to the side of a pontoon boat to protect the pontoon boat from damage to the rub-rail, decking, and/or pontoons.
Conventional pontoon boats include aluminum decking that runs around the perimeter of the boat and a pair of aluminum pontoons extending longitudinal along the starboard and port sides of the boat, below the deck.
It is an object of the invention to provide a watercraft fender that is readily attachable to the rub rail and/or deck of a watercraft buoyed by pontoons, to protect the watercraft from damage to the rub-rail, decking, and/or pontoons.
The fender provided in accordance with the invention is shaped specifically for pontoon boats, so that it may be readily attached to the pontoon boat decking and/or suspended from the pontoon boat rail. The pontoon boat fender of the invention is uniquely shaped to engage the decking and the pontoon to protect them from damaging contact with the dock or other boats.
The foregoing and other objects of the invention are thus achieved by providing a fender for a pontoon boat having a deck and at least one pontoon suspended below the deck and extending along at least one longitudinal side edge of the deck, the fender comprising: a deck engaging portion including a stop face for abutting a portion of the peripheral edge of the deck; a pontoon engaging portion including a concavely curved recess to receive and engage at least a portion of the pontoon; and a bumper portion to at least one of deflect and cushion impacts with adjacent structures.
The invention may also be embodied in a method for shielding and protecting a longitudinal side edge of a pontoon boat comprising: providing a pontoon boat including a deck having a peripheral edge, at least first and second pontoons mounted below said deck, said pontoons respectively extending along each longitudinal side edge of said deck; providing a fender having a stop face for abutting a portion of the peripheral side edge of said deck, a concavely curved recess for engaging at least a portion of a surface of a said pontoon, and a bumper portion to at least one of deflect and cushion impacts with adjacent structures; and disposing said fender so that said concavely curved recess engages at least a port ion of a surface of a said pontoon, and so that said deck engaging portion is disposed adjacent said peripheral edge of said deck.